Looking ahead on equality

Take action – Urge legislators to vote NO on concurrence on HB 74

With House Bill 74 – Validity of marriage through the Senate by the slimmest of third-reading margins, advocates of equality now must turn their attention to concurrence with the House – and there is hope that changes to this legislation mean no one is happy with it and it can be defeated.

The ESPC and its allies in the GLBT and legal communities urge everyone to send an email to the legislator who represents them and others they know or have a relationship with. Urge them to vote No on concurrence.

If the House refuses to concur with the Senate changes to the bill, then a conference committee will be appointed to attempt to work out differences between the Senate and the House. Urge your legislators to vote No on any compromise produced in conference committee, too.

The dispute centers around amendments made to the original bill. The House adopted an amendment that sponsor Sen. Curt Meier (R-SD3, LaGrange) declared was “circular in nature” and would have unintended effects on other legal arrangements that GLBT couples make to protect their personal and property interests. (That is Sen. Meier at right in the photograph above. He is conferring over the engrossed copy of HB 74 with Sen. Phil Nicholas of Laramie.)

At Meier’s urging, the Senate removed the amendment. The senators ultimately attached a new amendment aimed at recognizing civil unions made in other states.

That amendment, proposed by Sen. Ogden Driskill (R-SD1, Devils Tower), is being attacked by anti-GLBT forces. They have launched a weekend email messaging campaign urging members of the House to resist concurrence in order to avoid, as they clearly state in their message, “… succumbing to the Homosexual Agenda.”

“We are asking/pleading with you that you DO NOT concur with the Senate version of HB0074. If the Senate version is allowed, you are allowing Wyoming to start down the ugly and eroding path that Civil Unions will have (and has [sic] had on other states that have allowed this) on not only our generation, but our children and grandchildren,” the advocates of discriminating against GLBT people assert. (Boldface type in original.)

They go on to attack the morality of the many friends and neighbors we have who happen to be homosexuals:

“We ask that you stick to your guns, and continue to uphold Wyoming in the moral fabric that founded this country and state,” the email says. (Boldface type in original.)

This session has resounded with people claiming certain religious views for the “founders” that enables them to provide a narrow idea of the American “moral fabric.”

Do they refer to the founding “moral fabric” that safely stitched slavery into the Constitution and prohibited anyone without property from voting? Do they mean the moral fabric that forbade interracial marriage? What about founder Thomas Jefferson’s sexual relationship with his enslaved housekeeper Sally Hemmings?

These advocates of discrimination against GLBT folk insist on a moral fabric in which they choose the pattern and color that the rest of us must live with or face penalty of law.

At best, they are denying the understanding that scientific observation produced in the 20th century that human sexuality is complex with many variations, not simply a dichotomy separating men from women. The world might be an easier place to navigate if Nature was so definitive. It is not.

Again, the ESPC asks everyone to email legislators and urge them to oppose concurrence in the House – obviously, for difference reasons than the anti-GLBT crowd – and then to oppose any compromises produced in subsequent conference committees in order to kill the bill.

Still looking waaay back: Nullification

The Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee provided an opportunity to reach back to the speech that Mississippi’s Jefferson Davis gave when he resigned from the U.S. Senate.

House Bill 35 – Health Care Choice and Protection Act declares that the new federal health care reform law known as the Affordable Care Act is “not authorized by the constitution of the United States and violate its meaning, intent and principles as given by the ratifiers [there are those founders again] … “ and “shall be considered null and void and of no effect in this state; …”

The theory of nullification and interposition, first used by the Jeffersonian Republican party to oppose the Alien and Sedition Acts in 1798, was fully developed by Sen. John C. Calhoun of South Carolina in the 1820s in opposition to high import duties imposed by the federal government.

The South Carolinians also feared that the greater federal authority asserted to impose the high tariff ultimately could be turned against the institution of slavery.1

When Davis resigned from the U.S. Senate in 1861, he made clear that when nullification fails, secession is the next step. (Editor's note: When Davis mentions "the agent," he means the federal government.)

“Nullification is a remedy which it is sought to apply with the Union, against the agent of the States. It is only to be justified when the agent has violated his constitutional obligations, and a State, assuming to judge for itself, denies the right of the agent thus to act, and appeals to the other states of the Union for a decision; but when the States themselves and when the people of the States have so acted as to convince us that they will not regard our constitutional rights, then, and then for the first time, arises the doctrine of secession in its practical application.”2

Taylor Haynes, a write-in candidate for governor in 2010, supported HB 35 and told the committee the Wyoming legislature has the authority “to protect us” from the federal government. “They run over us,” Haynes said. “They steal from us.”

Tim Summers, lobbyist for AARP, told the committee that some difficult questions would need to be answered if the bill passes. He noted that the ACA provides funding for a state program to inform seniors of their options regarding health insurance. Summers asked if passage of House Bill 35 would mean a state employee would violate the law if he or she gave out such information.

Time ran out on the committee hearing Friday. Chairman Charles Scott (R-SD30, Casper) laid the bill back and said he would discuss with committee members what they want to do next with the bill.

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1 Paul S. Boyer, editor in chief, “The Oxford Companion to United States History” 2001.
2 Jefferson Davis’s Farewell to the U.S. Senate, Jan. 21, 1861; sunsite.utk.edu/civil-war/davisexit.html
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Protesting the benefits of bigotry

Wyomingites stand up for equal rights

Shred marriage licenses in statement of solidarity with Wyoming's gays and lesbians

As the state Senate prepared to open the debate of House Bill 74 - Equality of marriage, Equality State advocates rallied in front of the Capitol under a bright sun and in a brisk Wyoming wind to declare their support for their gay and lesbian neighbors' right to expect equal treatment under the law.

Rodger McDaniel, a former legislator, state official, and local pastor, told the crowd that a local Jewish rabbi recently discussed the human propensity to discriminate against fellow humans in order to lift their own self esteem. Quoting the Biblical story of Moses and Pharoah, the rabbi noted that discrimination is a natural behavior because it makes people feel better about themselves and superior to others.

McDaniel termed this effect "the benefit of bigotry." With the state planning to void same-sex marriage contracts from other states that it now recognizes by passing HB 74, McDaniel and his wife Pat produced their own heterosexual marriage contract that provides them many legal and social benefits. It gives them benefits the state wants to deny same-sex marriages.

As the material symbol of the benefits the state will give heterosexual couples and, by discriminating, deny to same-sex couples, McDaniel and his wife said they would shred their contract.

"We don't intend to quietly accept the benefits of bigotry," he said.

Speaking in front of the statue of Esther Hobart Morris which memorializes Wyoming as the Equality State for being the first government in the world to recognize women's right to vote, McDaniel and other speakers, including state Reps. Joe Barbuto, Stan Blake, Cathy Connolly and Sen. Cale Case urged the crowd to keep up their fight to defeat HB 74.

"We can do this," Case said, though he warned the enthusiastic crowd that a vote to kill the bill was unlikely Wednesday. He predicted the bill can be killed if people work hard to convince wavering senators that Wyoming people want them to honor its constitution that guarantees equal treatment of all.

He was right. The Senate engaged in a lively debate in which Sen. Phil Nicholas challenged proponents to explain what the bill will really do and Sen. Floyd Esquibel asked them to explain how the state benefits by passage of the bill. The bill was approved in a standing vote of 17-12 with the chairman not voting.

The bill will be considered again on second reading today. An amendment to modify the bill's outright ban of civil unions is expected to be offered.

The ESPC opposes HB 74 and urges everyone to ask their senator to vote NO to stop its passage.

Video and still photography courtesy Ron Sniffin.

House Education panel passes DOMA bill

Back of the bus for Equality State gays

The House Education Committee Monday night approved a bill that would clear the way for Wyoming to deny the validity of same-sex marriages legally made in other states or countries.

The committee voted 7-2 to send the bill to the House floor with a do-pass recommendation after opponents of the measure noted the irony of approving legislation limiting the legal rights of the state's gay residents on Martin Luther King Wyoming Equality Day.

Earlier in the day Gov. Matt Mead had addressed celebrants who honored Dr. King's memory by marching to the Capitol at noon.

“In his acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize, King spoke of his audacious belief that peoples everywhere could have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds," the new governor said, "And dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.”

“Food for the body, mind and soul are not things to be taken for granted. Not everyone has enough of it and we must continue to strive to provide it for all of our citizens. The work is not done,” the governor said.

But the Education Committee did not get the message. Advocates for the bill stayed on message, asserting that the legislation, House Bill 74 - Validity of marriage will protect the integrity of marriage. The law declares that marriages "other than of a male and a female person are void."

How gay relationships threaten heterosexual marriage was not made clear.

Lead sponsor Rep. Owen Petersen, R-HD19, Mountain View, (pictured above) said legislators must protect traditional heterosexual marriage as one of the key building blocks of society. The federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) allows states to void legal marriage contracts made in other jurisdictions even though the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution generally requires states to recognize legal contracts made in others.

Jason Marsden, formerly a lobbyist for Wyoming Conservation Voters and now executive director of the Matthew Shepard Foundation in Denver, attended the hearing to remind legislators that they really do not know the people the legislation will affect both legally and economically. He said later that most legislators certainly would go out of their way to understand how a change in water policy would affect a few irrigators or a small community.

They don't bring that same concern to members of the gay and lesbian community, he noted.

Rep. Cathy Connolly, D-HD13, Laramie, laid out a long list of arguments against the bill. She warned that adopting the bill threatens economic development by making the state less attractive to skilled professional couples who happen to be gay. But she also noted the personal affront to her as a lesbian who raised a son in a deeply committed relationship.

Connolly and Rep. John Freeman, D-HD60, Green River, cast the two no votes against HB 74.

Reps. Bob Brechtel, R-HD38, Casper, Donald Burkhart, R-HD15, Rawlins, Rep. Kendell Kroeker, R-HD35, Casper, Sam Krone, R-HD24. Cody, Carl "Bunky" Loucks, R-HD59, Casper, and Michael Madden, R-HD40, Buffalo, and Chairman Matt Teeters, R-HD5, Lingle, voted to pass the bill.

Short takes

• The Senate Judiciary Committee heard testimony for two hours on SJ2 - Health Care Freedom and SJ3 - Health Care Freedom (2). Both challenge the Affordable Care Act. SJ2 is a nullification bill likely in violation of the Supremacy Clause of the U.S.Constitution. That has not stopped its advocates who include lead sponsor Sen. Leslie Nutting, R-SD 7, Cheyenne, and the Wyoming Liberty Group. Testimony resumes Wednesday at 7 a.m.
  
• The Senate Corporations Committee Tuesday morning will consider SF3 - Campaign finance - organizations. The proposed bill brings state campaign finance law into compliance with the U.S. Supreme Court's 2010 decision that corporations can spend directly and freely through independent expenditure campaigns attacking or supporting specific candidates. The ESPC is advocating comprehensive disclosure laws so Wyoming voters can identify the sources of funding for those independent expenditures.
• Senate File 14 - Counties - election districts also will be heard by Senate Corporations. The bill allows a county to set up commission voting district that would allow some commissioners to be elected at-large in part of a county and by district in others. The ESPC fears the state is simply erecting another racist structure in the wake of federal court's dismantling of an existing one. Last spring, U.S. Distrct Court Judge Alan Johnson ordered Fremont County to end its system of at-large commission elections because they diluted the Native American vote. That dilution made it virtually impossible for a member of that large minority group to win a commission election.
  

Citizen Lobbyist Training attracts scores

And, do Workers’ Comp COLA estimators smoke crack?

We staged our Citizen Lobbyist Training at the Plains Hotel today. It’s a one-day short-course we offer every year to explain the legislature’s elegant and sometimes complex process and describe at least some of the human motivations that drive it.
Nearly 70 people registered for the training, close to record participation. Our own Sarah Gorin explained how a bill becomes law and noted some of the myths about our “citizen legislature.” Suzan Pauling of the Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault dispelled fears of involvement with tales of her own steps and missteps as a novice lobbyist.
Marcia Shanor detailed the challenges of testifying before a legislative committee. Like Pauling, her talk was salted with practical advice, like getting to committee hearings early if you want a chair in one of those tiny committee rooms, dressing well, and staying aware of your own demeanor while other people talk.

Former Sweetwater state Sen. Rae Lynn Job and five sitting legislators, including Reps. Bernadine Craft, Tom Lubnau, Jeb Steward, Mary Throne and Sen. John Schiffer, offered perspectives on their own motivations for serving in the legislature, the best methods for lobbying them, and looked to challenges ahead. Sen. Schiffer suggested balancing the state budget won’t be a problem. Dealing with big issues facing Wyoming residents, like health care, is a greater problem, Schiffer said.
Positive responses from many of the participants have stirred thoughts at the ESPC of trying to conduct similar training sessions in a few communities around the state in an effort to connect Wyoming’s far-flung residents with the important doings here in Cheyenne.

Actuaries on drugs???

The House Labor, Health and Social Services Committee lost no time in picking up a critical bill on Wyoming’s Workers’ Compensation program. House Bill 54 – Workers’ compensation amendments contains the first increases in benefits for injured workers since the early 1990s.
We support the bill. It includes a significant hike in death benefits paid to surviving dependents, eliminates the gap between the shut-off of Temporary Total Disability payments and the payment of permanent benefits, and for the first time gives cost-of-living-adjustments (COLA) to beneficiaries. The bill is the product of considerable interim work by the joint committee in 2008. Changes in the make-up of the committee have brought four new members, however, who did not participate in the interim work.
The new members did not have the chance to hear the many injured workers who testified at a hearing in Casper in June. Those workers expressed considerable frustration with the administration of the program and its treatment of them. They also pointed out many problems with the way it pays out benefits that have left many of them devastated economically, losing homes, cars, and sometimes marriages.
The bill comes with a fiscal note that estimates the increased benefits carry an annual cost between $11 million and $12 million. But Cheyenne attorney George Santini challenged the $3.5 million annual price tag the note puts on the COLA for recipients of Permanent Total Disability payments.

"Simple arithmetic reveals that for a 5% COLA to reach $20,000, an injured worker would have to receive benefits of $400,000 yearly. Workers’ Comp benefits are not that good."

The estimators had to have been “smoking crack,” he said. He noted that only 184 people receive PTD benefits from the Wyoming program. A COLA that costs $3.5 million a year would mean each person’s benefit would be increased by about $20,000, a number he said challenges reason.
Most COLAs are in a range of 3% to 5% annually, Santini said. Simple arithmetic reveals that for a 5% COLA to reach $20,000, an injured worker would have to receive benefits of $400,000 yearly. Workers’ Comp benefits are not that good.
Committee Chairman Jack Landon of Sheridan asked Workers’ Compensation Division administrators to supply an explanation of the $3.5 million estimate of COLA costs. None of the Worker’s Comp honchos denied Santini’s “smoking crack” charge One said he did not know exactly how the division’s actuary calculated them.
Ultimately, the numbers show that the Workers’ Comp fund holds the money needed to provide the benefits, which may be considerably less than indicated by the fiscal note on the bill.
There’s a question of fairness, too. Employers recently got a 15% premium credit that saved them nearly $40 million. There was little or no debate of that cost to the fund. It’s time injured workers got their due.
There was minimal opposition to the measure. Tom Jones, a former legislator who lobbies for the National Federation of Independent Business, expressed concern about the impact of the COLAs on the long-term health of the fund. Coal industry lobbyist Marion Loomis backed the bill, though he also asked the committee to look hard at the impact of the COLAs. No other industry lobbyists commented on the bill.
Kim Floyd of the AFL-CIO, Jon Narva of the Federated Fire Fighters of Wyoming, and Mark Aronowitz, an attorney with the Spence Law Firm’s nonprofit arm, joined Santini in support of the bill.
The ESPC likewise backed the bill but called for additional language that would make clear to the division administrators that the primary purpose of the program is not controlling its costs. The legislature should tell the division to focus first on restoring injured workers to productive life as quickly as possible and provide adequate indemnity benefits to permanently disabled workers. Cost control should be secondary. The cost of the program, as Floyd said, should not be forced on injured workers by paying them inadequate benefits.
No one should go broke because they went to work one day and got hurt.